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The Ark
12/1/2009 8:00 PM at Cliff Eberhardt & Storyhill
316 S. Main St., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
Cost: $15
Tonight’s performers have been at it for decades and have tapped new wellsprings of creativity. Storyhill is the duo of Montana-to-Minnesota transplants Chris Cunningham and John Hermanson. They began performing in Bozeman as Chris & Johnny in 1989, built a Twin Cities following, went their separate ways, and re-formed as Storyhill, with gorgeous folk-pop duo harmonies and songwriting that harks back in the best ambitious tradition to the 1970s. They took top honors at the 2007 Kerrville New Folk Competition. Red House recording artist Cliff Eberhardt was a driving force of the New Folk movement in New York, and his songs have been covered by the likes of Richie Havens, Buffy Ste. Marie, Lucy Kaplansky, and the folk supergroup Cry Cry Cry -- not to mention popsters Erasure. His acoustic music boils together various influences into a distinctive brew: the country blues of Mississippi John Hurt and Bonnie Raitt, jazz, and the great melodies and clever lyrical twists of pop songwriters like Cole Porter, the Gershwins, and Rodgers and Hart.
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